Exchange Risks Essay

The challenging issues in international business within the 20th and 21st century are currency and exchange rate risks. In the late 20th century, for instances, it has been clear that exchange rate risks considerations are critical for business survival. The economics crisis in the U. S. and most of European countries has displayed how the value of currencies in international business settings could alter the faith of millions of people, brought some to welfare and others to poverty. Concerning the business strategy into Brazilian market, the plan to strengthen market in the country is greatly influenced by economical factors such as the inflation figure of Brazil and the global economics crisis. The inflation figure is important since it influence the purchasing power of Brazilian. The global economic crisis also influences the country’s exchange rate of Brazilian currency that further influence the pricing of Bimbo bread products. In the light of this involvement, companies need to perform foreign currency risks assessments regarding the business activities. Most companies generally apply some of the financial tools that would protect them from foreign currency risk exposure, like futures, forward contract, etc. Recommendation The first analysis that Bimbo may take in expanding into foreign market is the country risk analysis. This is important factor for Bimbo since retail industry is low concentrated industry in which many local bread providers. In addition, country risk analysis also helps Bimbo in assessing whether a country has a set of policy that benefits business or vice versa. The figure 1 suggests that the more attractive a country is in terms of FDI index, the more likely that Bimbo must immediately presents in the country. Based on the FDI Index, we assess that Bimbo has performed suitable investment in Brazil. Since a country risk is only one factor in deciding a foreign direct investment, Bimbo must perform the next step that is to define marketing objectives to guide the company in assessing their productivity in foreign market. Figure 1 Top 25 Countries in term of FDI Confidence Index Source: A. T. Kearney Challenges of Grupo Bimbo in the U. S Choose the Suitable Entry Strategy In terms of market entry, there are many ways of entering a foreign market; each has its own economic and legal implications. Some entry strategies that multinational companies usually take are joint venture and foreign direct investment. Joint venture is a type of foreign market penetration strategy has a considerably large investment risk but this method consists of an opportunity to learn and create a greater presence in the targeted markets. Companies prefer to perform this type of market entry strategy when dealing with countries whose government put considerable restrictions on foreign ownership (Quick MBA, 2007). In case of Bimbo, the company may conduct joint marketing, for example, with local retailer named Lojas Americanas, a Brazil leading department store chain. This method provides Bimbo with the capability to learn the Brazilian retail market since at that time Customers’ Preferences Other risks in conducting international expansion are cultural issues. This factor then accumulates into becoming customers’ preferences. According to various studies in the field, culture is often an underestimated factor in managing corporate businesses. These studies also revealed that those companies that failed to place culture as an important business consideration often find themselves in a disappointing circumstance. Business investments that cost millions of US dollars could go down the drain due to such failure (Kwintessential, 2007). For instances, the Brazilian and U. S. customers consider the quality of product as the most important factor when deciding to buy merchandises. The other factors are price, value added and packaging. Today, however, realizing the global environment we are living in, companies are becoming increasingly cultural sensitive. There are various examples of corporations that hired people from various backgrounds and discover a synergy within their cooperation. In terms of Bimbo, in order to cope with cultural issues, the company also makes some cultural adjustment such as the use of advertisement media. If in the U. S. , the company spends many television advertising, in the Brazil, Bimbo takes many radio advertisings since many Brazilian housewives listen to the radio more often then watching television. Reference: Ball, Donald A. et al. (2002). International Business the Challenge of Global Competition. McGraw Hill Holt, David H and Wigginton, Karen W. (2002). International Management. Thomson Kotler, Philip. (2000). Marketing Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc Kwintessential. (2007). Cultural Sensitivity in Business. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www. kwintessential. co. uk/cultural-services/articles/cultural-sensitivity. html Quick MBA. (2007). Foreign Market Entry Modes. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www. quickmba. com/strategy/global/marketentry/.

Earth and Its People Edition 3 Chapter 7 Outline

The Impact of the Silk Road †¢ The Silk Road at first caused many pastoral groups to form. Eventually, rich families did settleand build large establishments. †¢ The Silk Road allowed the spread of religions ( see chart above ) such as Nestorian Christianity,Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. †¢ The stirrup spread though out the Silk Road. It allowed riders to be much more stable and thuscaused military innovation. i. e. the superiority of the Tang calvary in China. The Indian Ocean Maritime System †¢The Indian Ocean Maritime System was a society of seafarers established across the IndianOcean and South China Sea. †¢ This trade system linked a network of sea trade routes from Africa to China. The main playerswere Africans, South Arabian Persian, and the  Southern Chinese people (including theIndonesians and Malays). †¢ Although much of the discoveries of new lands and waters were attributed to famous peoplesuch as Zhang Jian or Hippalus, we mus t not forget the the indigenous people of these areasalso greatly contributed to their  expansions. Origins of Contact and Trade †¢Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island. †¢ 2000 years ago, people from one of the many Indonesian islands of Southeast Asia establishedthemselves in the mountainous land of Madagascar, 9,500 kilometers from home. †¢ These people kept much of their traditions but eventually lost most of it. [pic] The Impact of Indian Ocean Trade †¢ The precious materials wanted in  trade included ivory and minerals. †¢ Evidence of ancient copper mines has been  found in Oman in  southeastern Arabia. †¢ However, this volume of trade was  less than the amount occurring in the Mediterranean. †¢In the Indian area, the ports were small due to geographical problems such as inland monsoonwater not by the sea. †¢ E India, the Malay Peninsula, and Indonesia afforded more hospitable and densely populatedshores with e asier access to inland  populations. †¢ The empires that existed through out this Indus area never bothered to develop  as muchmaritime powers as the Greeks or  the Phoenocians did. †¢ The families around the coastal Indian area established bilingual and bicultural systems. Routes Across the Sahara Early Saharan Cultures †¢ The Sahara is broken only by the Nile River. †¢The trans-Saharan Caravan Routes were forced into existence due to the lack of water in manyareas. †¢ Before the Sahara became dry (pre 2500 B. C. E. ), this area was quite wet with a diverse group of  animals. †¢ Many believe that people from Mediterranean civilizations such as the Minoans, Mycenaeans, orRomans may have rode chariots into  the Saharan deserts. However, this evidence is lacking. [pic] Trade Across the Sahara †¢ Traders developed into two groups: the north and south. †¢ The North primarily focused on salt  trade. †¢ People from the souther Sahel brought forest and  agriculture goods.Sub-Saharan Africa A challenging Geography †¢ The use of rivers was limited by the many rapids in the rivers. †¢ The Southern Sahara area was limited and surrounded by many obstacles such as  the Niger,Zaire, Senegal Rivers, the Red  Sea, the Saharan Desert, etc. †¢ South of the Sahara are the steppes and savanna rain forests. These places were difficult totraverse. The Development of Cultural Unity †¢ â€Å"Anthropologists call â€Å"Great Traditions† those that typically include a written language, commonlegal and belief systems, ethical codes, and other intellectual attitudes.They loom large inwritten records as traditions that rise above the diversity of local  customs and beliefs commonlydistinguished as â€Å"small traditions. †Ã¢â‚¬  †¢ The elite culture in the sub-Saharan area turned the area into a Great Tradition area. †¢ This area is home to ~ 2000 languages. African Cultural Char acteristics †¢ African culture is shaped by the geographically different conditions of the lands. †¢ The post ice age time caused the diverse group of people to form. †¢ Although the population flourished at first, the  increase in dryness over the long period of  timecaused the diverse groups of people to  recede into specific areas.The Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations †¢ Agriculture started in the 2nd millennium B. C. E. and spread southward from the area by theSahara. †¢ Archaeology has also uncovered traces of copper mining in  the Sahara from the early  firstmillennium B. C. E. †¢ Copper smelting was during 400 C. E. †¢ Iron smelting was around the 1st millennium C. E. †¢ The Africans of Bantu probably figured out  how to smelt iron by themselves. The Spread of Ideas Ideas and Material Evidence †¢ In SE Asian, pig domestication was extremely important. †¢ Coinage in Anatolia and Europe was extremely popular. A t the same time coinage in China was also very popular. The Spread of Buddhism †¢ Please See The Above Image and Your Religious Charts The Spread of Christianity †¢ Please see Religious Chart ______________________________________________________ CHAPTER OUTLINE I. The Silk Road | | | |A. Origins and Operations | | 1. The Silk Road was an overland route that linked China to the Mediterranean world via Mesopotamia, Iran, and Central Asia. There were two periods of heavy use of the Silk Road: (1) 150 b. c. e. –907 c. e. and (2) the thirteenth through seventeenth centuries c. e. 2. The origins of the Silk Road trade may be located in the occasional trading of Central Asian nomads.Regular, large-scale trade was fostered by the Chinese demand for western products (particularly horses) and by the Parthian state in northeastern Iran and its control of the markets in Mesopotamia. 3. In addition to horses, China imported alfalfa, grapes, and a variety of other new crops a s well as medicinal products, metals, and precious stones. China exported peaches and apricots, spices, and manufactured goods including silk, pottery, and paper. | |B. The Impact of the Silk Road 1. Turkic nomads, who became the dominant pastoralist group in Central Asia, benefited from the trade. Their elites constructed houses, lived settled lives, and became interested in foreign religions including Christianity, Manicheanism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and (eventually) Islam. 2. Central Asian military technologies, particularly the stirrup, were exported both east and west, with significant consequences for the conduct of war. | | II.The Sasanid Empire, 224-600 CE A. Politics and Society 1. The Sasanid kingdom was established in 224 and controlled the areas of Iran and Mesopotamia. 2. The Sasanid Empire made Zoroastrianism its official religion. The Byzantine Empire made Christianity its official religion. Both Zoroastrianism and Christianity were intolerant of other religions. 3. In the third century Mani of Mesopotamia founded a religion whose beliefs centered around the struggle between Good and Evil. Mani was killed by the Sasanid shah, but Manichaeism spread widely in Central Asia.Arabs had some awareness of these religions conflicts and knew about Christianity. III. The Indian Ocean Maritime System | | | | A. Origins of Contact and Trade | | 1.There is evidence of early trade between ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. This trade appears to have broken off as Mesopotamia turned more toward trade with East Africa. 2. Two thousand years ago, Malay sailors from Southeast Asia migrated to the islands of Madagascar. These migrants, however, did not retain communications or trade with their homeland. | | B. The Impact of Indian Ocean Trade 1. What little we know about trade in the Indian Ocean system before Islam is gleaned largely from a single first century c. . Greco-Egyptian text,  The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. This account describes a trading system that must have been well established and flourishing when the account was written. The goods traded included a wide variety of spices, aromatic resins, pearls, Chinese pottery, and other luxury goods. The volume of trade was probably not as high as in the Mediterranean. 2. The culture of the Indian Ocean ports was often isolated from that of their hinterlands. In the western part of the Indian Ocean, trading ports did not have access to large inland populations of potential consumers.Even in those eastern Indian and Malay peninsula ports that did have access to large inland populations, the civilizations did not become oriented toward the sea. 3. Traders and sailors in the Indian Ocean system often married local women in the ports that they frequented. These women thus became mediators between cultures. | | IV. Routes Across the Sahara | |A. Early Saharan Cultures | | 1. Undateable rock paintings in the highland areas that separate the southern from the northern Sa hara indicate the existence of an early Saharan hunting culture that was later joined by cattle breeders who are portrayed as looking rather like contemporary West Africans. 2. The artwork indicates that the cattle breeders were later succeeded by horse herders who drove chariots.There is no evidence to support the earlier theory that these charioteers might have been Minoan or Mycenaean refugees. But there is also no evidence to show us either their origins or their fate. 3. The highland rock art indicates that camel riders followed the charioteers. The camel was introduced from Arabia and its introduction and domestication in the Sahara was probably related to the development of the trans-Saharan trade. Written evidence and the design of camel saddles and patterns of camel use indicate a south-to-north diffusion of camel riding. . The camel made it possible for people from the southern highlands of the Sahara to roam the desert and to establish contacts with the people of the nort hern Sahara. | | B. Trade Across the Sahara 1. Trade across the Sahara developed slowly when two local trading systems, one in the southern Sahara and one in the north, were linked. Traders in the southern Sahara had access to desert salt deposits and exported salt to the sub-Saharan regions in return for kola nuts and palm oil.Traders in the north exported agricultural products and wild animals to Italy. | | V. Sub-Saharan Africa | | A. A Challenging Geography | | 1. Sub-Saharan Africa is a large area with many different environmental zones and many geographical obstacles to movement. . Some of the significant geographical areas are the Sahel, the tropical savanna, the tropical rain forest of the lower Niger and Zaire, the savanna area south of the rain forest, steppe and desert below that, and the temperate highlands of South Africa. | | B. The Development of Cultural Unity 1. Scholars draw a distinction between the â€Å"great traditions† of ruling elite culture in a ci vilization and the many â€Å"small traditions† of the common people. . In sub-Saharan Africa no overarching â€Å"great tradition† developed. Sub-Saharan Africa is a vast territory of many â€Å"small traditions. † Historians know very little about the prehistory of these many â€Å"small traditions† and their peoples. 3. African cultures are highly diverse. The estimated two thousand spoken languages of the continent and the numerous different food production systems reflect the diversity of the African ecology and the difficulty of communication and trade between different groups.Another reason for the long dominance of â€Å"small traditions† is that no foreign power was able to conquer Africa and thus impose a unified â€Å"great tradition. † | | C. African Cultural Characteristics 1. Despite their diversity, African cultures display certain common features that attest to an underlying cultural unity that some scholars have called †Å"Africanity. † 2. One of these common cultural features is a concept of kingship in which kings are ritually isolated and oversee societies in which the people are arranged in age groups and kinship ivisions. 3. Other common features include cultivation with the hoe and digging stick, the use of rhythm in African music, and the functions of dancing and mask wearing in rituals. 4. One hypothesis offered to explain this cultural unity holds that the people of sub-Saharan Africa are descended from the people who occupied the southern Sahara during its â€Å"wet period† and migrated south the Sahel, where their cultural traditions developed. | | D. The Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations 1.Sub-Saharan agriculture had its origins north of the equator and then spread southward. Iron working also began north of the equator and spread southward, reaching southern Africa by 800 c. e. 2. Linguistic evidence suggests that the spread of iron and other technology in sub-Saharan Africa was the result of a phenomenon known as the Bantu migrations. 3. The original homeland of the Bantu people was in the area on the border of modern Nigeria and Cameroon. Evidence suggests that the Bantu people spread out toward the east and the south through a series of migrations over the period of the first millennium c. . By the eight century, Bantu-speaking people had reached East Africa. | | IV. The Spread of Ideas | | A. Ideas and Material Evidence | | 1. It is extremely difficult, sometimes impossible, to trace the dissemination of ideas in preliterate societies.For example, eating pork was restricted or prohibited by religious belief in Southeast Asia, in ancient Egypt, and in eastern Iran. Because Southeast Asia was an early center of pig domestication, scholars hypothesize that the pig and the religious injunctions concerning eating the pig traveled together toward the west. This has not been proved. 2. Another difficult problem involves the invention of coins. In the Mediterranean world, the coins were invented in Anatolia and spread from there to Europe, North Africa, and India.Chinese made cast copper coins—was this inspired by the Anatolian example? There is no way of knowing. | | B. The Spread of Buddhism 1. The spread of ideas in a deliberate and organized fashion such that we can trace it is a phenomenon of the first millennium c. e. This is particularly the case with the spread of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. 2. The spread of Buddhism was facilitated both by royal sponsorship and by the travels of ordinary pilgrims and missionaries.In India, the Mauryan king Ashoka and King Kanishka of the Kushans actively supported Buddhism. Two of the most well-known pilgrims who helped to transmit Buddhism to China were the Chinese monks Faxian and Xuanzang. Both have left reliable narrative accounts of their journeys. 3. Buddhist missionaries from India traveled to a variety of destinations: west to Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, as well as to Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and Tibet. 4. Buddhism was changed and further developed in the lands to which it spread.Theravada Buddhism became dominant in Sri Lanka, Mahayana in Tibet, and Chan (Zen) in East Asia. | | C. The Spread of Christianity 1. Armenia was an important entrepot for the Silk Road trade. Mediterranean states spread Christianity to Armenia in order to bring that kingdom over to its side and thus deprive Iran of control of this area. 2. The transmission of Christianity to Ethiopia was similarly linked to a Mediterranean Christian attempt to deprive Iran of trade.

Broken Family

Coherence – means â€Å"holding together†. A paragraph is coherent when its major parts are all close joined together. It is considered as the continuity between as well as within the paragraph. It is very important to arrange and link the sentences between the paragraphs to be able to make the readers follow the thought or the idea that want to be implied. . Careful selection and arrangement of sentences so that they lead up to one idea (which is also known as the principle of unity) becomes more effective when the logical relationship between sentences is made clear. The writer should take pains to indicate the steps of the progress or forward movement which is involved in the idea of development. The principal means of achieving coherence is found in the arrangement of sentences to show a clear sequence of ideas, and in the use of structural devices to show the logical connection between sentences. There are two general ways of obtaining coherence in a paragraph. The first one is by the order in which the sentences are arranged. The second one is by structural devices such as transitional words and phrases, reference of pronouns and repetition of keywords. A. Order of sequence- arrangement of materials within a paragraph depends upon the nature of the subject itself and upon the purpose of the writer. All writing that aims to communicate ideas demands a logical arrangement and connection, but the kind of logic and connection depends upon the different materials and purposes. The problem of coherence is to arranged the sentences in a definite orderly sequence. 1. Descriptive details a. Order of place- arrangement in a spatial scheme. Details correspond to their actual position and progress in space. b. Order of outstanding feature- choosing a detail from which one works out and around. c. Order of relative importance- selecting detail that will make the greatest impression and then centering the description around it by reinforcing it with the rest of the details that will create the desired effect. 2. Narrative details- chronological order Events are arranged in a temporal scheme; one sentence follows another in the order of their succ ession of time. 3. Logical order- inductive method and deductive method In the logical order, materials are arranged in an order determined by reasoning. The writer may use the inductive method. It is done by starting the statement with more particular detail going to and supporting the general statement. And the deductive method. It is done by establishing a general statement moving to the more particular details that explain the general statement itself. B. Structural device Coherence in the paragraph has to do with the mechanical expression of the relationship between sentences, with the signs that indicate the connections between related units. These signs of continuity must be expressed in a clear, fluid movement that should make the course of the writer’s thought easy to follow. There are three general ways of doing this. 1. Transitional words and phrases Conjunction and conjunctional words and phrases make clear the connection between sentences. The writer should carefully study the exact relation of successive ideas in order to use these expressions accurately. 2. Reference of pronouns The forward movement of ideas is carried by pronouns and synonyms if the reference to their antecedents is clear. 3. Key words Significant words and phrases that are repeated several times in the paragraph make an idea or aspects of an idea stand out prominently. Broken Family Saturday, 06 March 2010 * Broken Family Relationships: When to Walk Away, and When to Run I have always had trouble getting along with my mother. Ever since I was old enough to have an opinion and arguably before then, my mother and I have been at odds. On top of that, I never even had a great relationship with my dad but that's a topic for another post entirely. A vast majority of my friends, peers, and coworkers have a relationship with at least one parent. It has really caused me to question a lot about my faith, myself, and the fairness of not being able to choose one's parents. The idea of a parent is a tough one.What does it take to make a parent? What is a good parent and what is a bad parent? Absentee parents fall somewhere in between because even if they live at the same address as their children, they're emotionally unavailable. According to dictionary. com,  the definition for parent  is: a mother or a father. I'm no expert on the etymology of words, but I think we sho uld redefine parents a bit. A parent is someone who loves, nurtures, and cares for their young. There are plenty of â€Å"parents† in the world who may not have bore children of their body but have certainly bore children of their heart.As a young Christian, I have been tormented by my relationship with my mother and my other family members. Over the years, my relationship with her and my siblings has deteriorated tremendously. On the one hand, Christians are told to be loving. We are to endure with one another and bare with one another. This is noble philosophy and life doctrine but implementation of it is excruciating. How do we know when to â€Å"endure with one and bare with one another† and when to draw the line to protect ourselves from mistreatment? I have grappled with this concept for years.When I have asked my friends their opinion, most of them shrug their shoulders and insist that I have to accept my family how they are. Obviously, these are individuals wit h relatively functional families. They have no idea what I'm subjecting myself by toughing it out and â€Å"dealing† with some of my relatives. Only until recently has God really started drawing my attention or I've been more attentive, to what His word says about parents and baring with them. A few days ago, I read 1 Kings 19: 20-21. It says: â€Å"Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,† he said, â€Å"and then I will come with you. † â€Å"Go back,† Elijah replied. â€Å"What have I done to you? â€Å"†¦. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. † In this verse, Elisha does not go back to his parents. Instead, he leaves his farming equipment and speeds to follow Elijah. In Hebrews 11:24, the Bible says â€Å"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. † In reality, Moses was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter but he re's where the debate on parents comes in.Pharaoh's daughter had parented Moses as if he were her own son. But Moses refused this tie to the Pharaoh's daughter. Similarly, Christians are free to cast down false relationship or ties to people by faith. Being cared for as a child is important but it should not be the sole reason why we keep contact with or relate to people that did so. Parenting is so much more that providing for a child. It is having a relationship with a child. I am sure that there are many people who have family problems. Not everyone needs to disown their parents and siblings to deal with it but sometimes it is necessary and even ordained by God.In Genesis 12:1, the Bible says: â€Å"The Lord had said to Abram, â€Å"Leave your country, your people and your fathers' household and go to the land I will show you. † The very first book in the Bible contains a story where God ordains a mighty man to leave his father's household. We are not meant to stay with o ur parents forever. There are plenty of stories throughout the Bible of people being at odds with family members. The story of Joseph is a prime example of sibling rivalry and dissension that leads to Joseph being betrayed and sold into slavery. His brothers were his blood kin but they did not have his best interest at heart.Maybe one way to analyze the story of Joseph is to say that God recognized the jealousy in the brothers of Joseph. Hence, he decided that it was even better for him to be sold into slavery than to live around a den of jealousy amongst â€Å"family ties†. Mothers, you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em. But God says that He will not leave us even when our mothers do. In my post:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"In my Darkest Hours†¦ â€Å", I discuss the tension that can exist between family in greater depth. That post also talks about God's response as a loving Father and how He intervenes in these circumstances.How do you define a parent? Have you ever ha d a really tumultuous relationship with a parent that you couldn't over come? If you did overcome it, how so? Do you think that God may be calling you to something greater that will draw you away from conventional family ties? When do you bare with a parent, and when is it time to walk away from emotionally abusive relationships? 1. Isang pamilyang di magkasundo o/at magkahiwalay or divorced. 2. Ang broken family ay ung pamilyang nagkawatak watak kaya ngakakaroon ng broken family ay dahil sa ating mga magulang na hindi nagkakaunawaan. . If the father and the mother decided not to stay with each other because of their difference then that's what you called broken family. News Print Article  Ã‚  |   Ã‚  Email Friend  Ã‚  |  Ã‚  Reprint Permissions Broken Family Structure Leads to Educational Difficulties for Children By Gudrun Schultz UNITED STATES, January 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews. com) – The U. S Center for Marriage and Family released a study in November 2005 that show s broken family structures consistently lead to education difficulties for children. When it comes to educational achievement,† the study says, â€Å"children living with their own married parents do significantly better than other children. † The report found that children from non-intact families (children living in a situation other than with their own married father and mother) have significantly higher rates of difficulty with all levels of education, from pre-kindergarten through to primary, secondary, and college-age levels. Each year a child spends with a single mother or stepparent â€Å"reduces that child’s overall educational attainment by approximately one-half year† suggests the report.The study, a comprehensive review of recent academic research on the relationship between family structures and children’s academic performance, compared education outcomes from children growing up with their own married parents to children in non-intact family structures such as divorced, single, remarried or cohabiting parents. Family structure was consistently found to be the deciding factor in a wide range of child behaviors that directly influence academic performance, including emotional and psychological distress, attention disorders, social misbehavior, substance abuse, sexual activity and teen pregnancy.Children from non-intact homes had higher rates of stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, particularly as teenagers. The study found that preschool children from broken homes were three times more likely to suffer from attention deficit disorders than children from intact homes. Children from single-parent homes suffered from more physical health problems, as well. Pre-school children from single-parent homes were also less likely to be read to or given help with letter-recognition. ADuring elementary school, children from non-intact families scored consistently lower on reading comprehension and math, and had more difficulty maintaining their grade levels overall. Children from married parents had much lower rates of behavioral problems in the classroom than children who did not live with married parents. In particular, boys from broken marriages showed a higher rate of classroom misbehavior. For teenagers, students from broken homes were 30 percent more likely to miss school, be late, or cut class than students from intact homes, in part because single parents had more difficulty monitoring their children.These children were also at higher risk for smoking, using drugs and consuming alcohol. Teenagers from non-intact families were more likely to be sexually active and had higher rates of pregnancy. Girls from divorced single-mother homes were at greatest risk for teenage pregnancy. The study also found that children who were in a single-parent or step-parent home by the time they were ten were more than twice as likely to be arrested by age 14. A Children who never lived with their own fath er had the highest likelihood of being arrested.The study reports that a majority of U. S. children will have spent a significant part of their childhood in a one-parent home by the time they reach 18. Single parent homes in the U. S. nearly doubled in the period from 1968-2003. Family Structure and Children’s Educational Outcomes: http://www. americanvalues. org/briefs/edoutcomes. htm broken family is one where the parents (mother and father) of a child or children have split up and no longer share a single family home as a family unit. This is also known as a broken home. Broken Family Coherence – means â€Å"holding together†. A paragraph is coherent when its major parts are all close joined together. It is considered as the continuity between as well as within the paragraph. It is very important to arrange and link the sentences between the paragraphs to be able to make the readers follow the thought or the idea that want to be implied. . Careful selection and arrangement of sentences so that they lead up to one idea (which is also known as the principle of unity) becomes more effective when the logical relationship between sentences is made clear. The writer should take pains to indicate the steps of the progress or forward movement which is involved in the idea of development. The principal means of achieving coherence is found in the arrangement of sentences to show a clear sequence of ideas, and in the use of structural devices to show the logical connection between sentences. There are two general ways of obtaining coherence in a paragraph. The first one is by the order in which the sentences are arranged. The second one is by structural devices such as transitional words and phrases, reference of pronouns and repetition of keywords. A. Order of sequence- arrangement of materials within a paragraph depends upon the nature of the subject itself and upon the purpose of the writer. All writing that aims to communicate ideas demands a logical arrangement and connection, but the kind of logic and connection depends upon the different materials and purposes. The problem of coherence is to arranged the sentences in a definite orderly sequence. 1. Descriptive details a. Order of place- arrangement in a spatial scheme. Details correspond to their actual position and progress in space. b. Order of outstanding feature- choosing a detail from which one works out and around. c. Order of relative importance- selecting detail that will make the greatest impression and then centering the description around it by reinforcing it with the rest of the details that will create the desired effect. 2. Narrative details- chronological order Events are arranged in a temporal scheme; one sentence follows another in the order of their succ ession of time. 3. Logical order- inductive method and deductive method In the logical order, materials are arranged in an order determined by reasoning. The writer may use the inductive method. It is done by starting the statement with more particular detail going to and supporting the general statement. And the deductive method. It is done by establishing a general statement moving to the more particular details that explain the general statement itself. B. Structural device Coherence in the paragraph has to do with the mechanical expression of the relationship between sentences, with the signs that indicate the connections between related units. These signs of continuity must be expressed in a clear, fluid movement that should make the course of the writer’s thought easy to follow. There are three general ways of doing this. 1. Transitional words and phrases Conjunction and conjunctional words and phrases make clear the connection between sentences. The writer should carefully study the exact relation of successive ideas in order to use these expressions accurately. 2. Reference of pronouns The forward movement of ideas is carried by pronouns and synonyms if the reference to their antecedents is clear. 3. Key words Significant words and phrases that are repeated several times in the paragraph make an idea or aspects of an idea stand out prominently.

Frustrated Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Frustrated Contracts - Essay Example The question arises whether the owner of the Enterprise, due to the ship’s sinking in the Atlantic Ocean (no reason was offered as to exact cause), whether the ship’s owner is liable and if so, what is the extent of his liability? Does Dixie Wholesalers have the right to sue? And what are the rights of the c.i.f., who did not receive the future goods which they were promised by Dixie Wholesalers? What is the predominant principle of law which underlie this case? In addressing these issues we will first view the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, Article 6 – Supplement S(4) which in part states: â€Å"It is hereby determined that for the purpose of Article VIII of the rules, section 502 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, (which as amended by the Merchant Shipping (liability of ship owner and others) Act 1958, entirely exempts ship owner and others in certain circumstances from liability for loss, or damage to goods) is a provision relating to limitation of liabil ity†(CGSA). Further, the Hague-Visby Rules as Amended by the Brussels Protocol 1968, Articles 4 sections ( c ) and (d) in part states: â€Å"Neither the carrier nor the ship shall be liable for loss or damage arising from unseaworthiness unless caused by want of due diligence on the part of the carrier to make ship seaworthy, and to secure that the ship is properly manned, equipped etc., whenever loss or damage has resulted from unseaworthiness the burden of proving the exercise of due diligence shall be on the carrier or other person claiming exemption from this article.

The Report of created app Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Report of created app - Essay Example Statistics shows that the use of technology among travelers is very high and therefore the tourism industry is making efforts to stay in touch with its clients through technology (Tourism in a World of Technology, 2011). The tourism industry can be defined as an attraction sector as it runs on the manmade and the natural creation that are the center of attraction. People from all over the world pay their visits to such modern or ancient destinations. One of the major jobs of the tourism industry is to market such manmade or natural places so that they attract the attention of people around the globe. Attractive and unique places succeed in capturing the interest of large number of tourists (Tarlow, 2011). Time is an important constraint for tourists as usually they have limited time in which lots of things need to be done. They need to work on questions like what is to be done and how it is needed to be done. Another problem faced by them is to find places. This indeed is another tim e consuming activity and it acquires a lot of time of the trip. The tourism packages being offered are for a limited period and therefore wasting time in finding places can be a problem for the tourists (5 key issues facing travel and tourism, 2012). The people enjoying their holidays constantly want to share their picture and videos with their family and friends. The fascination of people of taking picture and recording videos has often been the topic of criticism. Tourists consider pictures as a record that they can share with their family and friends way back home. These photos and videos recorded by the tourists remind them of their visit. It is not always easy for tourists to share and record these significant moments of their life. This is where technology comes into action. The problems faced by the tourists can be solved by the tourism industry through the help of technology. The discussed problems cannot be considered as a negative side of tourism. Travelling places and fin ding way to go to new places is in itself enjoyment. It is the job of the organizer to make the tour a life time experience for its customers. Their tasks involve picking up mundane activities and turning them into something interesting and fun. For example train journey can be a great source of joy for travel writers, and similarly travelling in buses and undergrounds have their own pleasure. The best part of city visits is walking in streets as it is one of the easiest ways to access the life of the people of that place (Some of the Major Current Issues Confronting Tourism, 2006). Still there is a need to solve all these problems faced by the tourists in order to make the tourism industry much more efficient. The tourism industry cannot find an optimal solution for such problems simply by taking the help of technology. Technology can be used by our tourism business to save the precious time of the customers. It must also be noted that things like finding a cafe in another country are a source of enjoyment in itself (Fesenmaier, 2012). In order to solve this problem of finding places one can simply provide their customers with electronic guidebooks. This is an advanced from of traditional guidebook that has the A-Z list of all the places present in a particular country. In the traditional guidebooks the tourists have to look through the pages in order to get direction and find a place. This cannot be considered as an easy task. Usually it can be seen that tourists travel in a group and therefore in

Ethics in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Ethics in Management - Essay Example Decision making has been identified as one of the most valuable and crucial tools available to managers. The ability to make qualitative and productive decisions has been associated with successful management skills. Management is said to influence the organization’s ethical functioning by setting up priorities that lead to the ethical demeanor of the organization. Management must have the awareness and perception in making appropriate and precise ethical decisions. This can be achieved if decisions are based upon attaining goals and identifying the moral values of the organization. Managers also have to evaluate the effect of their ethical decisions on the vital interests of the business. The aim of this research paper is to analyze and evaluate the ethical decisions made by managers inside the international hospitality industry. The paper further identifies the core ethical values that are agreed by managers. It also discusses the influence and impression of these ethical de cisions on the various interests of the international hospitality industry. There is a strong relationship between management and ethics because this enables the creation of organizations where responsibility, integrity, honesty, and good governance are generated. Managers are geared towards achieving the goals of the organization through a process of dynamic and revolutionary concepts (Yeung 253, 2004). Responsible organizations can employ qualitative decisions that take into consideration the impact of their decisions. If these decisions are based on ethics than the various interests of the organization will also prosper. The local community will be empowered to have improved standards of living. The environment will be safeguarded by the practice of friendly policies and procedures. The international hospitality industry is faced with a number of issues that strongly determine their image and

The paper will be any of the onw i suggest you to choose Essay

The paper will be any of the onw i suggest you to choose - Essay Example Furthermore, there is a large dog and two dwarves positioned at the background of the picture. Another man has been positioned in the rear of the room who is leaving the room and there is a reflection of Philip IV with his queen Mariana of the Austria. In addition, the paintings of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, â€Å"The Village Bride† is a sentimental and moralizing painting. It is believed to have appealed the bourgeois during the mid 18 century in Paris. According to Facos, this article was initiated during the resentment of aristocratic moral decadences and the impervious attitudes over the rest of the world (Facos 34). The painting depicts a moment of dowry exchange which runs from the hands of the father to that of the bridegroom as recording by the public is undertaken. In the painting the practice is witnessed by the other family members. The most important part of the painting is the middle where we have the exchange of money. More so, the painting depicts that the father is the only person talking while the other family members have been rendered with different emotions and reactions. Furthermore, some family members have been displayed in the little vignette of the painting depicting some gestures. Therefore, any contemp orary viewer can easily connect the drama. In the paintings of Vela’zquez, has been linked to the Baroque illusionism. The real meaning of this style is creation of a world of illusions which is aimed at confusing the boundaries between reality and art. Foucault brings an impression that the artist uses tapestry in several senses, first as a tribute to Titian and Paul Rubens who are remembered as members in the nobility (Foucault 4 ). Furthermore, the use of tapestry evokes emotions and story of a mortal in relation to the gods, mortal was better than gods, this is used as an allegory to the mortal. Therefore, this painting can be referred to as a liberal

Kodak and Fujifilm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Kodak and Fujifilm - Essay Example The company has been slow in responding to the digital revolution. George Eastman started commercial production of dry plates as early as 1888 in New York (Schaede, 2008). He formed Eastman Company in 1888 and later transformed it to Eastman Kodak in 1892. The first brownie Camera was introduced in 1900 while the first motion picture film was launched in 1929. The first digital camera was introduced in 1975 with the capability of capturing black and white images with a resolution of 10,000 pixels. Eastman Kodak ventured in the video market in 1984 with the Kodavision series 2000 8mm video system. In 2003, Kodak Easyshare printer dock 6000 was launched to produce borderless 4 by 6 inch prints. In 2011, the company began shopping its 1,000 digital-imaging patents and experienced a downgrading of its debt ratings. In January 2012, the company announced plans to realign its business operations in order to cut costs but later in the month it filled bankruptcy protection in order to boost cash position and stay in operations. The profits and sales of Eastman Kodak have been eroding since 1990s due to foreign competition from Fujifilm. Eastman Kodak core business is divided in to three business segments that include digital and filming systems for consumers, professionals and entertainment industry (Schaede, 2008). The second business segment is the commercial imaging group that consists of aerial, graphic, micrographic, inkjet printers, scanners and digital printing equipments that target industrial, banking and insurance markets. The third business segment is health imaging that caters for medical films, processing equipments and chemicals (Schaede, 2008). On the other hand, Fuji Photo Film Ltd was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Fuji Film prides itself of continuous technological innovations since the company spends almost 7 percent of its sales towards research and development activities. Fuji Photo Film was established as part of the governm ent plans of establishing a local photographic film industry. Ashigara factory began operations immediately by producing photographic print papers, dry plates and photosensitive materials. The company entered the US market in 1965 and diversified to Europe the following year (Schaede, 2008). In 1983, Fuji acquired 51 percent of the shareholding of Chiyoda medical company in order to boost its medical photography and imaging business segment. In the 1990s, the company made several acquisitions and entered markets such as Hong-Kong, China and German. In 2003, an Enovation Graphic system was established in the US and acquired Arch Chemical, Inc currently known as the Fujifilm Electronics materials Co, Ltd. The company acquired Avecia inkjet limited and Problem solving concepts, Inc in order to boost imaging information systems business segment in the US. The company entered in Dubai in 2010 and also acquired endoscopy products in Turkey to boost its sales promotions. FujiFilm launched light production color system for on-demand printing in 2012. Fujifilm core business is divided in to three business segments that include imaging solutions, information solutions and documents solutions. Imaging solutions segment consists of electronic imaging, color films, color chemicals and papers, labs and photofinishing equipments. Information solutions business segments consist of medical systems, graphic systems, industrial products, optical devices and recording media (Schaede, 2008). The document

Human resource Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human resource - Research Paper Example But to most modern organizations, the urge and need to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in human resource management remains a very crucial challenge. Because of this, even though there is the practice of human resource management, this is not done in a very well regulated and coordinated manner that meets the growth and developmental aspiration of the organizations (Pattanayak, 2009). Through various forms of research conducted, the researcher has come to realize that in modern day administration and management of organizations, one element that plays a very key role is the use of information systems. Generally, technology has come to have such an important place in organizational management that the elimination of information systems in the management of organizations means that organizations will be stagnated in their growth and development agenda, just as the absence of an effective and efficient human resource management would lead to. In this research paper therefore, the tw o phenomena of human resource management and information systems are combined into a term that is rapidly gaining grounds in organizational management, which human resource information system. ... ed for them to wholly go about their traditional human resource management roles such as benefit, payroll, and labor productivity management and also undertake various tasks with information technology becomes very challenging, expensive and time consuming. Pattanayak, (2009) however notes that there cannot be an easy way out with the two options, which are human resource management and information technology. To compliment the two independent roles therefore, human resource information system is introduced as a bridging gap that â€Å"seeks to merge the activities associated with human resource management (HRM) and information technology (IT) into one common database through the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software† (Business Dictionary, 2013). In a much generalized sense therefore, one may view human resource information system as the role of information technology in human resource management. From a more technical viewpoint however, human resource information system goes beyond the mere use of computers and the internet to make the roles of human resource management easier. Human resource information system actually is an independent phenomenon on its own that seeks not just to use information technology in human resource management but make the combined use of information technology and human resource management easier and accessible. For all organizations who would undertake very proactive research and development to identify the human resource information system needs that they are faced with, the advantage is that they would have an effective and efficient human resource management in place. This is because Stewart (2009) has observed that the merger between human resource management and information technology that is done bring about a less

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 28

History - Essay Example In the eleven states in the US that constituted the American South, slavery was an established social and legal institution that was an integral part of the agricultural economy of these states. The American abolitionists favored the end of slavery, even under the risk of jeopardizing the harmony existing between the Northern and the Southern states. The Abolitionist Movement was favored by many luminaries like William Lloyd Garrison, John Greenleaf Whittier, Fredrick Douglass, and Charles Henry Langston. The Women’s Movement in the United States intended to seek a more egalitarian and just life for the female citizens of the republic. It was motivated by a number of ways in which the women were discriminated against in the United States. In the 1848 America, women were subject to several institutionalized biases. Not only the women were denied the right to vote, but they were also required to be subservient to the laws, while having no active role in the making of those laws. The Women’s Movement intended to correct this injustice. These two movements immensely influenced each other in the sense that many of the female luminaries who stood for woman’s rights were also former abolitionists (Sklar 4). Initially the few people who openly spoke against slavery, which may include Sarah Grimke and Angelina Grimke, also happened to be committed feminists (Sklar 27). To a great extent, it was the participation of the women abolitionists in the anti-slavery activities like public speaking, working for the cause of abolition, organizing rallies and events, getting the petitions signed, planning and managing fundraising events, and drafting and mailing letters to the congressman that gave them a real, firsthand insight into the dynamics and mechanics of political activism, which the later exploited in supporting the cause of women’s rights. Actually it was the sidelining of women abolitionists in the 1840

Suspense of the audience Essay Example for Free

Suspense of the audience Essay This biblical connection serves as a warning to the audience that Elizabeth is going to die! You can hear the rain dripping against the building and roof that gives this particular part an eerie effect, because it sounds like the drums used before an execution. We move onto the next scene. After you see the silhouette of the monster that tricks you to believe that you are looking at him from Elizabeths point of view almost immediately you see nothing but the hand cover Elizabeths mouth you see it being done with a birds eye view so you can tell exactly what has happened to her. We then go outside to the three men once again. Victor sees the balcony door open and shouts Elizabeth! in a frantic voice! Building up the sense of urgency. The music is reaching a crescendo in sympathy with the action on the screen. The final scene is also the most action-packed! There is a close-up of the Creature lying on top of a very scared and terrified Elizabeth, each staring at the other in silence this is a very quiet moment for the audience; it gives you your breath back from the outside! There is eerie music in the background to match with this eerie moment. The audience has time to contemplate what will happen next? Will the monster let her go or will she die? The close up reveals the monster looking admirably at Elizabeth and for a moment we believe she will escape. It still has the amber glow inside, but because this is a different situation the amber doesnt give out the romantic feel anymore, it gives out a chilling feel instead! The silence is broken when Elizabeth asks not be hurt. This is still a close up and you can hear Elizabeth breathing in fear and see the expression on her confused and bewildered face. The creature takes up a lot of the camera space in this shot; he wears black that is a sign that the evil is domineering over the good. Dont bother screaming, demands the creature in case they find him. He says it again to make himself clear. At this moment you feel sorry for Elizabeth, because you know she is going to die and you are part of her experience because the camera angle is a close-up and you feel her emotions. The Creature says, Your even lovelier than I had expected there is then a flash of lightening in the foreground it catches the eye of the creature, he is blinded and bewildered by it for a split second, he recovers and hears Victor shout Elizabeth from outside the room. He suddenly digs his hand into Elizabeths chest, the three men then burst in and all of a sudden the Creature catches the audience off-guard by ripping the heart out of Elizabeth in a matter of milliseconds and turning to Victor utters, I keep my promises. The three men start to shoot at the creature, but the creature throws the dead Elizabeth off the bed her hair catches fire which brings in more excitement for the viewers. The creature makes a dash for the balcony window and jumps out onto the ground. This is all mid-shot, and distances you from the action so that you can see the whole picture. The scene ends with the romantic feel it started off with, but this is a tragic romance as we are left to watch Victor cradling the dead Elizabeth in his arms after putting the fire out of the hair. My evaluation The director has used a wide range of skills to contribute to the success of this scene. He shifts the viewers through a range of emotions and expectations through his use of contrast, lighting and sound. The sense of suspense is heightened by the use of small short, contrasting scenes cut quickly between them. In my opinion, the director should try to and use the audiences four senses so that the audience feels even more part of the film, thus becoming more scared when something harrowing happens! I think a brilliant idea to back this up would to be adding smell and touch for example you can smell the flowers and candles burning in the love scene and you can feel the warmth and smooth fabric on the bed. I think that the director was very effective in the scene and made good use of what he could. He used lighting, sounds and images which all made the audience hooked into the scene. I in particular was glued to it, and was always thinking, What will happen next? It does seem like a mad rush but that is good in horror films, the quick feeling of adrenalin pumping through the body is the main objective of the director! Conclusion The scene that I studied was a very good example of a horror movie! There were all the ingredients that are needed to fulfil a good horror movie, such as the normal love scene turning into a horror scene. Contrast plays an important part in horror movies. For example, there was the contrast between the beauty of Elizabeth and the ugliness of the Creature and the beauty of the love scene which shows the creation of life through love and the contrast of the death about to befall her. The director uses very good techniques to keep the audience glued to the film. He let the audience know there was horror awaiting outside, but inside Elizabeth was completely unaware of what was about to befall her and the audience just want to let her know that she should get out of there, but we feel frustrated because we cant do anything about the information we have. The audiences emotions are therefore heightened and confused. I especially like the use of colours in the love scene and the contrast with the turmoil of the dark storm outside. I think that emphasises the mood of the whole scene the evil that lurks outside. I also like the flips between the inside and the outside, where you feel warm and secure inside and vulnerable and scared outside! The director is playing with the emotions of the audience. Overall, it is an effective scene I think it could even be an inspiration to other horror film directors because of the techniques that were used and the way they were used! By Matthew Kutner 10G Matthew Kutner 10G 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Discrimination in Healthcare Essay Example for Free

Discrimination in Healthcare Essay The new test is whether or not certain treatment was unfavourable to the person claiming discrimination, focusing on the consequences of the treatment on the person claiming direct discrimination because of a protected attribute. Examples of direct discrimination An employer advises an employee that they will not be trained to work on new machinery because they are too old to learn new skills. The employer has discriminated against the employee by denying them training in their employment on the basis of their age. A real estate agent refuses an African man’s application for a lease. The real estate agent tells the man that the landlord would prefer an Australian tenant. The real estate agent has discriminated against the man by denying him accommodation on the basis of his race. Indirect The definition of indirect discrimination has been simplified by removing existing technicalities and providing further clarity around the factors to consider in determining whether a requirement, condition or practice is reasonable in the circumstances. Indirect discrimination will occur where a person imposes, or proposes to impose, a requirement, condition or practice that has, or is likely to have, the effect of disadvantaging people with a protected attribute, and that is not reasonable. The new test for indirect discrimination: needs a person to show that the requirement, condition or practice causes, or is likely to cause disadvantage, rather than demonstrating that they cannot comply with a requirement, condition or practice removes the requirement that the person claiming indirect discrimination must establish that a substantially higher proportion of people without the attribute that they have can comply with the requirement, condition or practice places the onus of proof regarding the easonableness of the requirement, condition or practice on the person who imposed or proposes to impose it extends the factors to be considered in determining whether a requirement, condition or practice is reasonable.

Advantages Renewable Energy Resources Environmental Sciences Essay

Advantages Renewable Energy Resources Environmental Sciences Essay Together with the rapid growth of the world population, the limited ability to supply of non-renewable leads to energy demand on a rise especially in developing countries. This situation results in the risk of depletion of cheap fossil energy and environmental pollution as well as climate change. According to Loir, there will probably be sufficient oil and gas for this century, and coal for 2 or more (Loir .N 2007, p.843). Or Edwin Cartlidge reports the annual total consumption of energy sources by the world population is about 1.41017 kWh, of which the proportion of the fossil energy has accounted for 90% of the energy sources used (Physics World 7/2007). Therefore, researchers around the world have been constantly trying to find solutions to diversify energy sources and reduce harmful emissions and greenhouse emissions into the environment and renewable energy sources have taken the spotlight. Thus, what is the renewable energy? The Oxford Dictionary (2000) defines renewable energy as natural energy that can be used again and again and will never run out. There are four major types of renewable energy: solar, hydro, wind and geothermal energy. This paper will discuss advantages and disadvantages that renewable energy resource (RES) brings, as well as analysis the importance of RES to the worlds future. 2. Discussion of findings 2.1 Advantages of renewable energy resources The use of renewable energy has many potential benefits, including human beings and environment. Firstly, renewable is one of the most important  advantages of renewable energy. Essence of RES is derivation from natural processes so the energy is sustainable and never run out. Truly, renewable energy is really important and necessary to human beings when fossil fuels are more and more exhausted. With the never-ending supply of renewables, we would feel secure when having abundant supply of energy to last our planet, our human race and our economies, for generations and ever. Khemani (2011) says: As long as human life is there, there will be earth, sun, wind and water, and the energy from these sources will also be available as long as they are there. With the abundance from many renewable resources and development of science and technology, he strongly believes that renewable energy can meet the worlds energy needs today and tomorrow. Besides, one of the greatest alternative energy benefits is that it is so much better for environment than the use of  fossil fuels that contribute heavily to issues such as acid rain, smog and global warming. On the contrary, renewable energy has little or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants. Renewable energy systems produce much lower carbon dioxide emissions as opposed to carbon-intensive fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas while they are being used only a small amount of fuel during the manufacturing of equipment (Walser 2012). With renewable energies, energy is usually converted from one form to another without the creation of pollutants. Chandler (2006) takes solar energy an example, light energy from the sun can be converted directly to electricity using photovoltaic without the production of any pollutants like carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses. Similarly, wind power energy relies on moving air and converts it into electr icity without polluting the environment. Therefore, it is obvious that the non-pollution or minimal impacts on environment are the positive advantages of renewable energy. Thirdly, another benefit of renewable energy is a diversified energy mix (Pasolini 2012). It is an important and necessary supplement for global energy security while fossil fuel sources are more and more running out. In some circumstances, renewable energy can be more reliable than other forms of electricity. For example, if the grid gets breakdowns, renewable energy technologies such as generators powered by photovoltaics (PV) can supply electricity automatically. Efficient storage media such as batteries and fuel cells are keys for a renewable-powered grid.   If battery storage is added to the system, it can supply electricity even after the sun goes down or through several cloudy or stormy days (Pasolini 2012). Finally, renewable energy not only is regarded as an unlimited resource but also plays an important role to regional development. Renewable energy and energy efficiency can help revitalize rural communities (Parker 2010). For example, wind turbines or solar panel systems can provide energy and provide rural communities with new tax revenue. Farmers on windy lands can lease space to wind developers, earning thousands of dollars for each turbine every year. 2.2 Disadvantages of renewable energy resources Although it is obvious to recognize the human as well as environmental advantages of utilizing renewable forms of energy, we must also consider some limiting sides from the energy. The biggest disadvantage of renewable energy is that the cost of the energy is relatively higher than non-renewable energy. The initial costs of renewable energy still make many people ignore it completely when comparing it with fossil fuel on two aspects: total cost and over the same time period. For example, installation of solar energy water heater costs many times in comparison with a heater, so they decided to buy heaters for hot water solution. According Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) (2008) reported that turbine installation costs $ 47.5 billion; by contrast, we only have to spend a much smaller amount of money to build thermal power station about $ 2,25 billion (Shah 2011). He also pointed that other incidental costs such as maintenance costs and production costs cause price increasing. Generally, it is price that the reason has prevented approaching and using clean energy as compared to the fossil fuel sources of energy. Another distinct disadvantage is relying too much on weather conditions and geographic locations to create energy (Sinclair 2011). Each types of renewable sources is just better suited to some places. This means that you cannot use each of these renewable sources in all locations. For instance, when using geo-thermal energy, you must be in a location that provides the environment for geo-thermal energy to be produced. Likewise, we cannot generate hydro-electric power without having a fast-flowing water source, such as a river or waterfall. In addition, the energy also brings some inconvenient problems. Take solar energy water heater as an example, it is inefficient because in summer ambient temperature are high and the use of hot water is not needed; however, in the winter we could not have hot water due to low light of the sun. In addition, Shah (2011) claimed that despite the fact that most renewable energy sources are more environmentally friendly they may still have a negative impact on the environment. He stated that hydroelectricity projects can cause a dramatic change in the development of wildlife and ecosystem along the river and flood risks. 2.3 Can renewable energy supply the Worlds energy needs? With the significant benefits from renewable energy, we cant deny that roles of it are more and more important. According to Pulsinelli (2012), despite the world economic crisis, China spent $52 billion on renewable energy in 2011 and the United States was close behind with investments of $51 billion. At present, renewable energy contributes about 20% in electricity consumed worldwide (Perkowski 2012). It is evident that the two nations, which took the head in renewable energy investment, have known thoroughly out the importance of renewable energy. Nowadays, by advances and achievements of science and technology scientists are having every confidence in bright future of renewable energy. According to the report of The  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2011, renewable sources occupied about 13 percent of the worlds energy in 2008 and the proportion likely to have risen. The report also point out that within four decades renewable energy  could account for almos t 80% of the worlds  energy supply. The statistics are completely appeared in the near future if we combine four main alternative resources and use hydroelectric to fill in gaps, which makes easier to match demand. The most important thing is to combine renewable energy sources into a bundle (cited in Bergeron 2011). Particularly, in research (Edenhofer et al. 2011) shows that by 2050, geothermal energy could meet more than 3 percent of global electricity demand and about 5 percent of the global heat demand, hydropower will contribute about 30 percent of worldwide electricity supply, wind power will grow to more than 20 percent and solar energy becomes one of the major sources of energy supply with about 15 percent. 3. Conclusion From all finding above, it is clear that renewable energy plays a role more important with every passing day to both human beings and environment. By abundance renewable energy is becoming an important solution to the worlds energy need. Besides, renewable energy also brings many positive impacts to protecting environment, diminishing effects of global warming or pollutions. Despite some drawbacks of the energy, there are also reasons to believe the problems will be solved soon thanks to strong investment of government and efforts scientists. The exploiting and converting from traditional sources into renewable energy resources is a favorable turning-point to us. The future is indeed bright and will be lit by alternative energy.

Depletion Of Forests Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Can you picture our earth without forests? Many of us can’t. Forests cover approximately one fifth of the worlds land surface and play an important role in our everyday lives (Dudley 4). Forests provide us with many products and services from helping maintain erosion to providing jobs for our citizens. Humanity depends on the survival of a healthy ecosystem and deforestation is causing many social, economic and ecological problems. One ecological problem is Global warming witch is caused when carbon is released into the air after the burning of forests. Governments and industries must become more aware of these consequences of their activities and change accordingly. They need to cooperate with forest management and work towards a future that benefits all. Humans need to be educated about the current issues of the forests in order for us to save, preserve or sustain these places that provide us with so much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Humans depend tremendously on the world’s forests, but yet were the ones destroying them. For humans, the forests have many aesthetic, recreational, economic, and cultural values. Timber and other products of the forests are important economically both locally and as exports. They provide employment for those who harvest the wood or for those who make products from the living forest. Forests also provide us with medical drugs, dyes and fabrics. There are many people who are dependent on forestland for their livelihoods. One third of the world’s people depend on wood for fuel as a significant energy source (Dudley). Not only do the forests provide some people with homes, but also provides a popular setting for ecotourism, which includes hiking, camping, bird watching and other outdoor adventure or nature study activities. All these activities and products the forests provide us are at great risk from deforestation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only do forests provide us with all this but also protect soil from erosion and reduces the risks of landslides and avalanches. Trees help sustain freshwater supplies therefore are an important factor in the availability of one of life’s basic needs. Forests affect the climate and are also a very important source of oxygen. One major factor that the forests carry is that they are the home to over one half of the world’s total species (Dudley). Current... ...humans are going to have to undergo some degree of ideological change. Humans are going to have to live more sustainable lives and become closer with nature. Once the crisis of deforestation has passed, humankind will enjoy a finer existence, and will look forward to a bright future. Bibliography Anderson, Anthony. Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Dudley, Nigel. The Death of Trees. London: Pluto Press Limited, 1985. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management: What Future for the Worldn’t Forest? Rome: FAO, 1993 Hatch, Chris. â€Å"Consuming Canada’s Forests.† Brazil of the North. 1997, pg. 23. Land Slides. Encarta Reference Suite 2000. CD-ROM. 1999 Ness, Bryan. Saving Tropical Forests Profitably. 17 May 1998. 23 Oct. 1999. Shuster, Laurie. â€Å"Senate Votes to Continue Salvage Logging.† Home Improvement Market v 233: p10. 24 Oct. 1999

Enigmatic Quirigua :: essays research papers

One of the last lowland Mayan cities to collapse, existing well into the 9th century, Quirigua, lies today in the still grasses of the Motagua Basin. This 1,200 years old Mayan city is the focus of the article. The ruins of Quirigua are found amidst a banana plantation established at the turn of the century by the United Fruit Company. Some of the executives of the United Fruit Co. were interested in archaeology and decided to keep the central plaza from being plowed over. The surrounding smaller buildings are now part of the banana plantation. Nine monolithic sandstone monuments, called stelae, with dated texts of hieroglyphs, defining the beginnings and the end of the Classic Period of Maya Civilization, from about 300 to 900 AD, is what makes Quirigua an attraction to archeologists. The stelae remain the principal written chronicles of this lost civilization, as well as the key to their highly advanced calendric system. Other Mayan centers erected stelae much earlier and in greater profusion, but the stelae at Quirigua are unsurpassed in their style and technique. Like most Mayan monuments, they were erected to commemorate the passage of time, significant historic events, and also served as â€Å"billboards advertising the kings‘ standings with the Maya godsâ€Å" (as the author of the article points out). During its brief period of erecting stelae, from the early 8th century until 810 AD, Quirigua was one of only two cities to regularly erect monuments marking the end of five-year periods (the quarter-katun, or hotun). The enormously heavy material needed for the construction of the stelae had to be transported from large distances and there is no evidence to show the usage of wheels or animals. These huge monolithic sculptures, weighing up to 65 tons, were artfully carved without the benefit of metal tools. Stone chisels, driven by other stones or wooden mallets, were the only tools available; and yet the Mayan sculptors achieved such a high level of artistry; the carvings, apparently, were done before the stones were lifted up to their vertical positions. This fine collection of gigantic stone sculptures is arranged in a regular pattern on the main plaza at Quirigua, the Great Plaza. The city is believed to have served as an important way station between Copan and Tikal. The greatest leader of Quirigua, during whose reign seven of the nine stelae were erected, was Cauac Sky (or Kawak Sky) founder of the Sky Dynasty, who ruled the city for sixty years. Enigmatic Quirigua :: essays research papers One of the last lowland Mayan cities to collapse, existing well into the 9th century, Quirigua, lies today in the still grasses of the Motagua Basin. This 1,200 years old Mayan city is the focus of the article. The ruins of Quirigua are found amidst a banana plantation established at the turn of the century by the United Fruit Company. Some of the executives of the United Fruit Co. were interested in archaeology and decided to keep the central plaza from being plowed over. The surrounding smaller buildings are now part of the banana plantation. Nine monolithic sandstone monuments, called stelae, with dated texts of hieroglyphs, defining the beginnings and the end of the Classic Period of Maya Civilization, from about 300 to 900 AD, is what makes Quirigua an attraction to archeologists. The stelae remain the principal written chronicles of this lost civilization, as well as the key to their highly advanced calendric system. Other Mayan centers erected stelae much earlier and in greater profusion, but the stelae at Quirigua are unsurpassed in their style and technique. Like most Mayan monuments, they were erected to commemorate the passage of time, significant historic events, and also served as â€Å"billboards advertising the kings‘ standings with the Maya godsâ€Å" (as the author of the article points out). During its brief period of erecting stelae, from the early 8th century until 810 AD, Quirigua was one of only two cities to regularly erect monuments marking the end of five-year periods (the quarter-katun, or hotun). The enormously heavy material needed for the construction of the stelae had to be transported from large distances and there is no evidence to show the usage of wheels or animals. These huge monolithic sculptures, weighing up to 65 tons, were artfully carved without the benefit of metal tools. Stone chisels, driven by other stones or wooden mallets, were the only tools available; and yet the Mayan sculptors achieved such a high level of artistry; the carvings, apparently, were done before the stones were lifted up to their vertical positions. This fine collection of gigantic stone sculptures is arranged in a regular pattern on the main plaza at Quirigua, the Great Plaza. The city is believed to have served as an important way station between Copan and Tikal. The greatest leader of Quirigua, during whose reign seven of the nine stelae were erected, was Cauac Sky (or Kawak Sky) founder of the Sky Dynasty, who ruled the city for sixty years.

desegregation historiography Essay -- essays research papers fc

Equality and equal opportunity are two terms that have changed or have been redefined over the last 100 years in America. The fathers of our constitution wanted to establish justice and secure liberty for the people of the United States. They wrote about freedom and equality for men, but historically it has not been practiced. In the twentieth century large steps have been made to make the United States practice the ideals declared in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The major changes following Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat to a young white man and the Brown v. Board of Education trial in 1954. These Supreme Court rulings altered American society and began the desegregation and integration movements. In the 1950’s many writers took interest in writing about segregation, desegregation, integration and black history in general. Many historians write about segregation still existing today and the problems in which integration never had the chance to corr ect. Many works about desegregation were written in the years to follow, was it a good idea and would it last? Murray Friedman, Roger Meltzer and Charles Miller put a collection of essays together in the mid 70’s discussing integration and the many different views pertaining to desegregation in its first fifteen years. Major changes have taken place in American lives that have not been fully absorbed in our thinking that cause confusion and bitterness. The authors agree that the original goal of civil rights forces was the dismantling of school systems segregated under law, despite the strong resistance, was successful in some places. Pennsylvania is one state that issued programs to integrate schools that were successful. Another topic addressed in New Perspectives on School Integration is the study of ethnic groups in schools. At the time programs only study the present or dominant ethnic group at a specific school. It changes from school to school rather than teaching ethnicitie s of many different American groups. The goal in teaching American ethnic culture should include a wide range of content. If schools were to teach all ethnicities to every child, no matter their race, it would benefit and prepare students whom will be entering an integrated society instead of a desegregated society. Desegregation effects on the achievements of black and white students show improvement. James Coleman ... ...States was founded on principles of equality, liberty and the right to exercise them freely. In the Constitution the ideals of the American Creed have thus become the highest law of the land. Kozol also describes the American Dilemma and brings it to life for his readers. The values of the American Creed have historically not extended on a equal basis. The fallacy lies in the ideals of American foundations, if Americans would live up to the lofty ideals, then the race problem in the United States would disappear. Segregating still does exist today and will keep living until we are able to go into cities and change their education program and make funding and instruction equal. Bibliography Friedman, M., R. Meltzer, C. Miller. New Perspectives on School Integration. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979 Harris, Ian M. Criteria for Evaluating School Desegregation in Milwaukee. The Journal of Negro Education, Vol.52, No.4 (Autumn, 1983), 423-435. Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. New York, New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1992. Samuels, Albert L., Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004.

Logic and knowledge assignment Essay

1. The poles of knowledge are related to experience in that experience serves to bring out a connection of a particular meaning of an issue that has occurred in the past. The individual will therefore refer to the past so that he can bring out the truth of the matter. 2. The objects of knowledge are constituted in a manner in which they are integral because all these senses are in a position to distinguish various elements as either right or wrong e. g. the eye can determine whether what it has seen is right or wrong while the ear can select what to hear. 3. Intellect begins to function when the mind presents the reality in a distinct and a clear way so that truth can be said to have been exercised. 4. The animal intelligence is different from the human intelligence in that the animal intelligence cannot separate or unite concepts which are considered elements that make up logic. 5. A concept is a material that represents logic in its untrue or unfinished state while judgment is discerning the differences between some given forms of matter in a finished and a clear manner. While concepts are incomplete and imperfect, judgments are complete and perfect thoughts that the individual’s mind will rest upon in making decisions. Whereas a judgment can deny or reaffirm some of subject matter, a concept denies or affirms it. The two aspects also differ in that while concept stands for a meaning of a certain issue; judgment is an expression of the concept. 6. Concept differs from a simple apprehension as an act because it does not affirm or deny and therefore becomes an incomplete and an imperfect act. The reason why it does not represent a complete act is rest upon the mind not resting on this point and therefore needs to seek and get the real answer to the problem in question. 7. The image is different from the concept because an image can be expressed in form of the characteristics of the object in its material from that is its concreteness and the variable of the material while a concept is immaterial, constant, universal and abstract. 8. Judgment separates images by giving the distinction between one image and the other. It therefore does not unite images but separates them in their form and differences. 9. It is possible for a vague image to be universal because an object in the mind which is represented as a concept has the property that it can be represented as universal, abstract and constant and therefore a vague object in the mind of an individual can be represented as universal. 10. Simple apprehension can be false because the mind has not yet registered any evidence of truth about the matter. An example is when a person gives a word which has several meanings in a class. The minds of the students will revolve around all the meanings of the word but they will want to be told further some hint about the details of the issue and therefore they can establish the real meaning of the issue. Otherwise the issue would represent either false or true answers in the minds of the students. 11. In logic â€Å"notes† refer to the elements of complex meaning. 12. Comprehension of a concept refers to the articulation of notes in the mind of a person in the right order. 13. Comprehension relates with the essential definition in that comprehension is the coming up with the real meaning of an issue after definition as been done that is coming up with probable solutions. Initial definition therefore aids in comprehension. 14. â€Å"Specific property† differs from â€Å"descriptive characteristic† in that specific property is the act of giving the object the real meaning that it specifically fits while descriptive characteristics refers to the ability of logic to unite and separate the concepts. 15. Extension is the property of an object in which a concept is represented in a combination of the real things which are actual and possible to be applied. Comprehension is the idea of the intellect knowing the meaning and essence of a particular object and expressing this meaning in a definition. 16. These two terms vary inversely because comprehension does not necessary refer to knowing the facts of the matter while extension means the real facts of the subject matter is really known and therefore the concept can be confidently represented. 17. A term refers to the concepts that do not have any significance when they are represented on their own while ‘syncategorematic words’ refer to the concepts that connote some particular issue when they stand on their own. 18. Universal is different from generality in that while universal means something that is widely accepted in a big region like the entire world, generality means a concept that is perceived in a particular person’s mind and it could be different from the perception of another person somewhere else. 19. a. Signification of terms Signification of the terms is the dividing of terms so that they meaning is affected. Examples include the use of the word â€Å"man† it can either have the meaning of masculine or it can be used to mean individuals regardless of their sex orientation. b. Supposition of terms Supposition of the terms refers to the terms in which a word stands; it does not represent the meaning of the term alone but also a proposition of the term. An example is â€Å"Paul is short† this phrase indicates that the truth about Paul’s height is that he is short. 20. It’s important to study logic because it makes individuals to learn things from the truthful way. Logic often bases issues in a truthful manner and therefore if people followed logic then concepts can easily be inferred as correct and therefore problems solved easily. Reference: Etienne Gilson, Knowledge as Understanding, the Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Chapter V, pp. 200-206

Philippine Rice Farmers Socioeconomic Status Essay

Rice farmers’ socioeconomic status better when they venture into other businesses. The economic and social status of Filipino rice farmers and their families has steadily improved during the last decade, not because they depended on rice, but because they ventured into other activities that supplemented their income from rice. This was shown by a study conducted by the Socioeconomics Division of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). The study group, led by Divina Gracia Vergara, focused on trends transpiring in rice-based farm households and rice lands, and among farmer operators in 33 provinces for the last 10 years. â€Å"This intensive study captures the farmers’ image from 1996 to 2007,† Vergara said. The study shows that the rice-based farm household income is increasing, as gross household income went up from P68,974.85 in 1996-97 to P127,799.95 in 2006-07. The finding is also consistent with the result showing that almost 60 percent of the hou seholds are above poverty level (57 percent) in the 2006-07 period. Furthermore, the share of nonfarming activities as a source of income had steadily been increasing, as the study found that rice and rice-based farmers are now engaged in other businesses, such as rubber production, wood craft, welding and work overseas. â€Å"This finding implies an important question. The question in the long run will be about the presence of household members who are willing to pursue rice farming in the future or dependence of rice-farm households on hired labor for the management of their farms,† Vergara said. Aside from improving the status of rice-based households and increasing their income, Vergara also learned that the number of farmers owning rice land had been increasing by 10 percent for the last 10 years. Moreover, there is also an increase in farmers’ yields regardless of season from 3.30 ton per hectare (t/ha) to 3.72 t/ha during the wet season, and 3.37 t/ha to 3.94 t/ ha during the dry season. Across three survey rounds, most villages are located in irrigated areas, and results show that irrigation is expanding from 60 percent to 66 percent. The current trend revealed by the study also suggests that highly educated persons are venturing into rice farming, although the majority is modestly educated or with elementary education only. There is a 2-percent increase in the number of farmers with at least a college education venturing into rice farming. In terms of organizing farmers, however, results show that more than 50 percent of the respondents are not affiliated with rice or rice-based organizations. Most of them have not also undergone training since 2004. Noting that half of the farmer-respondents have been farming for 20 years, Vergara also said farmers’ households are benefiting from the technologies and services that are being provided by the government. Despite the interventions, however, average yields gained during the dry and wet seasons are still below the experimental and on-farm trial yields of 7-9 t/ha. Gaining insight from the study, Vergara and her coauthors recommended that training should be sust ained to continuously update farmers’ skills and knowledge. She also stressed the need for the government to encourage farmers to form or join organizations as through organization, farmers can pool resources and have easier access to government incentives. She also suggested the expansion of irrigation areas, as this creates â€Å"a more favorable environment for rice farming in particular and agriculture in general.† To attract more people to be involved in rice production, Vergara proposed that technologies lessening the drudgery of rice farming should continually be developed. â€Å"It is important that the government continue to monitor the rice-based farm household to determine or approximate the impact of their interventions. This will also give them enough knowledge on the direction of the policies that they would formulate to improve the countryside,† Vergara said.

Advertisers Do Have a Responsibility to Society Essay

We are live in a society surrounded by a variety of advertisements. The amount spent alone in advertisement by the top 10 companies in the U.S. cost up to billions of dollars per year. Advertisements can be both beneficial and harmful to viewers. Consumers collect information about a certain product or service through advertisement so advertisers have a responsibility to deliver truthful information to the public. However, advertisers frequently disregard these important responsibilities. They rather focus on creating false advertisements to deceive their target audience by using a variety of advertising techniques. Because advertiser wants to sell more amount than competitor, advertiser creates false, deceptive, exaggerative, excess advertisement. These kinds of advertisement cause consumers to spend more. Moreover, it lacks the consumers’ ability to judge the products. See more:Â  Perseverance essay For example, Dannon’s popular Activia brand yogurt lured consumers into paying more for its purported nutritional benefits. When it was actually pretty much the same as every other kind of yogurt (ABC News). Another example is for Taco Bell’s seasoned beef. When consumers raised questions about what was actually seasoning Taco Bell’s seasoned beef, the company didn’t know how to respond. It was simply using oat filler. Which means the meat isn’t seasoned beef at all, according to USDA standards. The franchise had been tricking its consumers into thinking its products were of a higher grade than they actually were (Ad Age). In conclusion, whether company or person, who are not aware of information, will fall behind. Even though there is good side of advertise, such as fast deliver information, wider choices, and instruct way of spending. However, on other hands, advertiser creates stereotypes, selling bad food towards children, using sex, etc. by using many adverting techniques. I believe these kind of advertise causes so much bad influence on our society.

The Indigo Spell Chapter Eleven

MARCUS DISAPPEARED TO WHEREVER it was he was hiding out, and I drove home. What he'd said to me still seemed outlandish. I kept telling myself none of it could be true. It made things a lot easier to handle. Back at Amberwood, I found the usual buzz of evening student activity. It felt comforting after my shocking outing, far removed from fanatics and cryptic spells. My phone buzzed with a text message the minute I stepped into my dorm room. It was from Jill: Come see us when you're back. I sighed. No rest for the wicked, it would seem. I left my purse in my room and then trudged down to the second floor, unsure of what I'd find. Jill opened her door, looking immensely relieved to see me. â€Å"Thank God. We have a situation.† â€Å"We always have a situation,† I said. I stepped inside and saw Angeline sitting on the floor, back against the wall and a miserable expression on her face. â€Å"What happened?† She looked up quickly. â€Å"It wasn't my fault.† The sinking feeling in my stomach increased. â€Å"It never is, is it? I repeat: what happened?† When Angeline refused to say, Jill spoke up. â€Å"She gave Trey a concussion with an algebra book.† Before I could even start to parse that, Angeline leapt to her feet. â€Å"The doctor said it wasn't a concussion!† â€Å"Wait.† I glanced between them, half hoping they'd burst into laughter at the joke they must be playing on me. â€Å"You did something to Trey that actually required medical attention?† â€Å"I barely touched him,† she insisted. I sat down on Jill's bed and resisted the urge to crawl under its covers. â€Å"No. You can't do this. Not again. What did the principal say? Oh, God. Where are we going to send you?† After Angeline's brawl with a motivational group, it had been made very clear that further fighting would get her expelled. â€Å"Eddie took the blame,† said Jill. A small smile crossed her face as she spoke. â€Å"There weren't really many witnesses, so Eddie said they were playing around in the library and tossing the book back and forth. He claimed he got careless and threw the book too hard . . . and that it accidentally hit Trey on the head.† Angeline nodded. â€Å"That's kind of what really happened with us.† â€Å"No, it wasn't,† protested Jill. â€Å"I saw it. You got mad when Trey told you it shouldn't be that hard to understand that x always has a different value.† â€Å"He implied that I was stupid!† Variables didn't seem like too hard a concept to me, but I could tell under Angeline's bravado that she really was flustered. I always had the impression that back among the Keepers, Angeline had been a queen among her peers. Here she was constantly trying to keep up academically and socially adrift in a world very different from the one she'd grown up in. That would make anyone insecure. And while I questioned if Trey had ever said she was stupid, I could understand how some of his snarky commentary could be perceived that way. â€Å"Did Eddie get in any serious trouble?† I asked. I doubted he'd get expelled for something like this, but it would be just my luck that he'd get the punishment he'd saved Angeline from. â€Å"Detention,† said Jill. â€Å"He accepted it very bravely,† added Angeline. â€Å"I'm sure he did,† I said, wondering if either girl knew they were wearing mirror expressions of adoration. â€Å"Look, Angeline, I know the tutoring process must be frustrating, but you have to watch your temper, okay? Trey's just trying to help.† She looked skeptical. â€Å"He's got kind of an attitude sometimes.† â€Å"I know, but people aren't exactly lining up to fill his position. We need you here. Jill needs you here. Eddie needs you here.† I saw some of her indignation fade at the mention of her friends and duty. â€Å"Please try to work with Trey.† She gave a weak nod, and I stood up to leave. Jill hurried after me into the hallway. â€Å"Hey, Sydney? How was your outing with Marcus?† â€Å"It was fine,† I said, certainly not about to dredge up Marcus's alarming revelations. â€Å"Informative. And I learned how to play Skee-Ball.† Jill almost looked offended. â€Å"You played Skee-Ball? I thought you were supposed to be learning about the Alchemists' secret history.† â€Å"We multitasked,† I said, not liking her tone. I left before she could comment further and texted Eddie when I reached my room. I heard what happened. Sorry. And thanks. His response was quick: At least it wasn't a concussion. I braced myself for snark when I went to meet Adrian the next day. Jill had probably told him about my arcade trip, which would probably elicit a comment like, â€Å"Nice to know you're so dedicated to crack the Alchemists. Way to keep your eye on the ball.† When I pulled up in front of Adrian's apartment building, he was already waiting out front for me. As soon as I saw his grim face, my heart stopped. I jumped out of the car, just barely pausing to grab the keys as I went. â€Å"What's wrong?† I exclaimed, jogging up to him. He rested a hand on my shoulder, but I was too worried to care about the touch. â€Å"Sydney, I don't want you to freak out. There's no lasting damage.† I looked him over. â€Å"Are you okay? Were you hurt?† For a moment, his somber expression turned puzzled. Then, he understood. â€Å"Oh, you think it's me? No, I'm fine. Come on.† He led me around the back of his building, to the private parking lot used by residents. I came to a halt, my jaw dropping as I took in the terrible, ghastly scene. A couple other residents were milling around, and a police officer stood nearby taking notes. Around us, seven parked cars had their tires slashed. Including the Mustang. â€Å"No!† I ran over to its side, kneeling and examining the damage. I felt like I was in the middle of a war, kneeling by a fallen comrade on the battlefield. I was practically on the verge of shouting, â€Å"Don't you die on me!† Adrian crouched beside me. â€Å"The tires can be replaced. I think my insurance will even cover it.† I was still horrified. â€Å"Who did this?† He shrugged. â€Å"Some kids, I guess. They hit a few cars one block over yesterday.† â€Å"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning to me?† â€Å"Well, I didn't know they were going to come here too. Besides, I knew you'd flip out and want to set up twenty-four-hour surveillance on this place.† â€Å"That's not a bad idea.† I glanced up at his building. â€Å"You should talk to the landlord about it.† Adrian didn't seem nearly as concerned as he should have been. â€Å"I don't know that he'd go for it. I mean, this isn't really a dangerous neighborhood.† I pointed at the Mustang. â€Å"Then how come this happened?† Even though we could take Latte to Los Angeles, we still had to wait around to finish up with the police and then get a tow truck. I made sure the tow truck driver knew that he better not get a scratch on the car, and then I watched mournfully as it was hauled away. Once that sunny splash of yellow disappeared around a corner, I turned to Adrian. â€Å"Ready to go?† â€Å"Do we have enough time?† I looked at my cell phone and groaned. We'd burned up a lot of time handling the vandalism aftermath. And yet, I hated to wait until tomorrow, seeing as I'd already lost time yesterday while dealing with Marcus. I called Ms. Terwilliger and asked if she'd cover for me if I came in after curfew. â€Å"Yes, yes, of course,† she said, in a tone that suggested she couldn't understand why I'd even bothered calling her. â€Å"Just talk to more of those girls.† Ms. Terwilliger had given me six names. We'd already taken care of Wendy Stone. Three of the girls lived relatively close together, and they were our goal tonight. The last two were closer to the coast, and we hoped to reach them tomorrow. Adrian tried making conversation with me throughout the drive, but my mind was still on the Mustang. â€Å"God, I'm an idiot,† I said, once we'd almost reached our destination. â€Å"That's never a term I'd use to describe you,† he said promptly. â€Å"Articulate. Well dressed. Smart. Organized. Beautiful. I'd use those terms, but never ‘idiot.'† I nearly asked why â€Å"beautiful† had come after â€Å"organized† and then remembered the actual concern. â€Å"I'm obsessing about that car when girls' lives are on the line. It's stupid. My priorities are messed up.† My eyes were on the road, but I could tell he was smiling. â€Å"If your priorities were really messed up, you would've followed that tow truck. Yet here you are, off to help perfect strangers. That's a noble thing, Sage.† â€Å"Don't rule yourself out,† I said. â€Å"You're pretty noble too, going on all these outings with me.† â€Å"Well, it's not the same as Skee-Ball, but it'll have to do. How was that anyway? Did you really learn anything?† â€Å"I learned a lot – some pretty unbelievable stuff, actually. I'm still waiting to get some proof, though.† Luck was with us initially. The first two girls were home, though their reactions were similar to Wendy Stone's. This time, I'd had the foresight to bring the newspaper article, in the hopes it would make a stronger impression. That ghastly picture at least gave them pause, but I left not knowing if they'd really take me seriously or use the agate charms. Our good fortune ran out when we reached the last name. She too was a college student, meaning we had another campus visit. Her name was Lynne Titus, and she lived in a sorority house. I admit, as I knocked on the door, I was fully prepared to find a group of girls dressed in pink, having a pillow fight in their living room. But when we were shown in, we discovered an orderly home not all that different from Wendy's building. Some girls were coming and going, while others sat around with textbooks and papers. â€Å"Lynne?† asked the girl who'd let us inside. â€Å"You just missed her.† I knew this shouldn't be a surprise. These girls had lives. They wouldn't all be waiting around for me to come by and talk to them. I glanced uneasily at a window, taking note of the purpling sky. â€Å"Any idea when she'll be back?† The girl shook her head. â€Å"No, sorry. I don't know where she went.† Adrian and I exchanged looks. â€Å"You're free from your curfew,† he reminded me. â€Å"I know. But that doesn't mean I want to spend all night waiting for Lynne.† I did some mental calculations. â€Å"I suppose we could wait a couple of hours. Three at most.† Adrian seemed supremely delighted by this, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was more excited at hanging out on a college campus . . . or at spending time with me. â€Å"What's fun to do around here?† he asked our hostess. He glanced around at the quiet academic environment. â€Å"No raging parties here, huh?† The girl put on a disapproving expression. â€Å"We're a very serious sorority. If you're looking for parties, I guarantee there's one going on just down the street. Those girls have one every night.† Adrian shot me a hopeful look. â€Å"Oh, come on,† I said. â€Å"Can't we find some nice museum?† â€Å"We want to stay close, in case Lynne comes back,† Adrian said. Something told me if the party had been all the way across campus, he still would've pushed for it. â€Å"Besides, if you want to go to college so badly, you should see the full scope of what it has to offer. And aren't you a fan of Greek stuff?† That was hardly what I had in mind, and he knew it. I reluctantly agreed but warned him he couldn't drink. I was sporting the brown wig and presumed he was using spirit to mask us further. Alcohol would diminish his ability to pull it all off. Plus, I just didn't want to see him drunk. It was easy to find the party house because we could hear the music blasting from it. A guy and a girl openly drinking beer from plastic cups challenged us at the door. â€Å"This is Greek only,† the girl said. She looked as though she might fall off her stool. â€Å"Who are you with?† I pointed vaguely toward Lynne's sorority. â€Å"Um, them.† â€Å"Alpha Yam Ergo,† said Adrian, without hesitation. I expected the door squad to point out that most of those weren't even Greek letters. Maybe it was because Adrian spoke so confidently – or because they'd had too much beer – but the guy waved us inside. It was almost like being back at the arcade, an overwhelming flood of stimuli. The house was crowded and loud, with smoke hanging in the air and alcohol flowing freely. Several people offered us drinks, and some girl invited us – three times – to play beer pong, forgetting that she'd already spoken to us. I regarded it all in amazement, trying to keep the disgust off my face. â€Å"What a waste of tuition. This is ruining all my collegiate dreams,† I shouted to Adrian. â€Å"Isn't there anything to do that's not drinking or being stupid?† He scanned around, able to see more of the room from his greater height. He brightened. â€Å"That looks promising.† He caught hold of my hand. â€Å"Come on.† In a surprisingly nice and spacious kitchen, we found several girls sitting on the floor painting blank T-shirts. Judging from the sloppy job and paint spills, they too had been indulging in alcohol. One girl had a cup of beer next to an identical cup of paint, and I hoped she wouldn't mix them up. â€Å"What are you doing?† I asked. One of the girls glanced up and grinned. â€Å"Making shirts for the winter carnival. You want to help?† Before I could say no, Adrian was already on the ground with them. â€Å"Do I ever.† He helped himself to a white T-shirt and a brush with blue paint on it. â€Å"What are we putting on these?† The girls' shoddy work made that a valid question. â€Å"Our names,† said one girl. â€Å"Winter stuff,† said another. That was good enough for Adrian. He set to work painting snowflakes on the shirt. Unable to help myself, I knelt down to get a better look. Whatever his faults, Adrian was a decent artist. He mixed in a few other colors, making the snowflakes intricate and stylized. At one point, he paused to light a clove cigarette, sharing one of the girls' ashtrays. It was a habit I didn't really like, but at least the rest of the smoke in this place masked his. As he was finishing up the shirt and writing out the sorority's name, I noticed that all the other girls had stopped to stare. â€Å"That's amazing,† said one, her eyes wide. â€Å"Can I have it?† â€Å"I want it,† insisted another. â€Å"I'll make each of you one,† he assured them. The way they looked at him was an unwelcome reminder of the breadth of his experience with other women. I shifted a little closer to him, just so they wouldn't get any ideas. He handed the white shirt to the first girl and then set to work on a blue shirt. Once he fulfilled his promise to each girl, he sifted through the T-shirt stack until he found a men's-size black one. â€Å"Gotta pay tribute to my fraternity.† â€Å"Right,† I scoffed. â€Å"Alpha Yam Ergo.† Adrian nodded solemnly. â€Å"A very old and prestigious society† â€Å"I've never heard of them,† said the girl who'd claimed the first shirt. â€Å"They don't let many people in,† he said. In white paint, he wrote his fake fraternity's initials: AYE. â€Å"Isn't that what pirates say?† asked one of the other girls. â€Å"Well, the Alpha Yams have nautical origins,† he explained. To my horror he began painting a pirate skeleton riding a motorcycle. â€Å"Oh, no,† I groaned. â€Å"Not the tattoo.† â€Å"It's our logo,† he said. Adrian and I had once had to investigate a tattoo parlor, and to distract the owner, he'd gone in and pretended to be interested in a tattoo that sounded very much like what he was drawing now. At least, I assumed he'd been pretending. â€Å"Isn't it badass?† â€Å"Badass† wasn't quite the word I would've used, but despite it being such a ridiculous image, he actually did a good job. I made myself comfortable, drawing my knees up to me and leaning against the wall. He soon stopped with his banter and grew completely absorbed in his work, meticulously painting the skeleton's bones as well as that of a skeleton parrot sitting on the pirate's shoulder. I studied his features as he worked, fascinated by the joy in his eyes. Art was one of the few things that seemed to anchor him and drive that darkness in him away. He seemed to glow with an inner light, one that enhanced his already handsome features. It was another rare and beautiful glimpse of the intense, passionate nature lying beneath the jokes. It came through in his art. It had come through when he kissed me. Adrian suddenly glanced up at me. Our gazes locked, and I felt like he could read my mind. How often did he think about that kiss? And if he really was crazy about me, did he imagine more than just kissing? Did he fantasize about me? What kinds of things did he think about? His lips on my neck? His hand on my leg? And was that leg bare . . . ? I was afraid of what my eyes might betray and quickly looked away. Desperately, I groped for some witty and nonsentimental comment. â€Å"Don't forget the ninja throwing stars.† â€Å"Right.† I could feel Adrian's gaze on me a few moments longer. There was something tangible to it, a warmth that enveloped me. I didn't look back until I was certain his attention was again on the shirt. He added the stars and then sat back triumphantly. â€Å"Pretty cool, huh?† â€Å"It's not bad,† I said. In truth, it was kind of amazing. â€Å"You want one too?† The smile he gave me stirred up those warm feelings again. I couldn't help but smile back. â€Å"We don't have the time,† I managed to say. â€Å"We've got to check on Lynne.† â€Å"I'll make you a fast one.† â€Å"Not the pirate,† I warned. He found a small purple shirt and began painting on it in silver. â€Å"Purple?† â€Å"It's your color,† he insisted. A thrill ran through me at his words. Adrian could see auras, the light that surrounded all people and was tied into their personalities. He'd told me that mine was yellow, a color most intellectuals had. But he'd also said I had flares of purple, which indicated a passionate and spiritual nature. Those weren't qualities I usually thought I possessed . . . but sometimes, I wished I did. I watched, enthralled, as he painted a large silver heart with flames edging one side. The whole design was Celtic in style. It was beautiful. â€Å"Where did you get that from?† I asked in awe. I'd seen a lot of his work but never anything like this. His eyes were on his heart, completely caught up in his work. â€Å"Just something kicking around in my head. Reminds me of you. Fiery and sweet, all at the same time. A flame in the dark, lighting my way.† His voice . . . his words . . . I recognized one of his spirit-driven moments. It should've unnerved me, but there was something sensual about the way he spoke, something that made my breath catch. A flame in the dark. He swapped out the silver paintbrush for a black one. Before I could stop him, he wrote over the heart: AYE. Underneath it, in smaller letters, he added: HONORARY MEMBER. â€Å"What are you doing?† I cried. The spell had shattered. â€Å"You ruined it!† Adrian regarded me with a mischievous look. â€Å"I figured you'd be flattered at being accepted as an honorary member.† â€Å"How can I get in?† asked one of the girls. In spite of my outrage, I took the shirt when he offered it to me. I held it up gingerly, careful not to mess up the paint job. Even through the ridiculous words, the fiery heart was still stunning. It shone through, and I couldn't stop admiring it. How could someone so irreverent create something so beautiful? When I finally looked up again, I found Adrian watching me. That earlier thrall seized me, and I found myself unable to move. â€Å"You haven't painted anything,† he said softly. â€Å"That's because I have zero creativity,† I told him. â€Å"Everyone's got some creativity,† he insisted. He handed me the silver brush and slid over to join me against the wall. Our legs and arms touched. He laid out his own AYE shirt across his lap. â€Å"Go ahead. Add something, anything.† I shook my head in protest and tried to hand him the brush. â€Å"I can't draw or paint. I'll ruin it.† â€Å"Sydney.† He pushed the brush back into my hand. â€Å"It's a pirate skeleton, not the Mona Lisa. You're not going to decrease its value.† Maybe not, but I had a hard time imagining what I could possibly add to this. I could do a lot of things, but this was out of my league – especially compared to his skill. Something in his expression drove me, however, and after a lot of thought, I gave my best shot at drawing a tie around the skeleton's neck. Adrian frowned. â€Å"Is that a noose?† â€Å"It's a tie!† I cried, trying not to feel offended. He laughed, clearly delighted at this. â€Å"My mistake.† â€Å"He can go to a boardroom meeting,† I added, feeling a need to defend my work. â€Å"He's very proper now.† Adrian seemed to like that even more. â€Å"Of course he is. Proper and dangerous.† A little of his mirth faded, and he grew pensive as he studied me, holding me in his gaze. â€Å"Just like you.† I'd been so worried about the artistic challenge that I wasn't aware of just how close he'd moved to me until now. So many details came into focus. The shape of his lips, the line of his neck. â€Å"I'm not dangerous,† I breathed. He brought his face toward mine. â€Å"You are to me.† And somehow, against all reason, we were kissing. I closed my eyes, and the world around me faded. The noise, the smoke . . . it was gone. All that mattered was the taste of his mouth, a mix of cloves and mints. There was a fierceness in his kiss, a desperation . . . and I answered, just as hungry for him. I didn't stop him when he pulled me closer, so that I almost sat on his lap. I'd never been wrapped around someone's body like that, and I was shocked at how eagerly mine responded. His arm went around my waist, pulling me onto him further, and his other hand slid up the back of my neck, getting entangled in my hair. Amazingly, the wig stayed on. He took his lips away from my mouth, gently trailing kisses down to my neck. I tipped my head back, gasping when the intensity returned to his mouth. There was an animalistic quality that sent shock waves through the rest of my body. Some Alchemist voice warned me that this was exactly how a vampire would feed, but I had no fear. Adrian wo uldn't hurt me, and I needed to know just how hard he could kiss me and – â€Å"Oh my God!† Adrian and I jerked apart as though someone had thrown cold water on us, though our legs stayed entangled. I glanced around in a panic, half expecting to see an outraged Stanton standing over us. Instead, I looked up into the terrified face of a girl I didn't know. She wasn't even looking at us. â€Å"You guys won't believe what happened!† she exclaimed, directing her words to our fellow artists. She pointed vaguely behind her. â€Å"Over across the street at Kappa, they found one of their girls unconscious, and they can't wake her up. I don't know what happened, but it sounds like she was attacked. There's police out front and everything.† Adrian and I stared at each other for one shocked moment. Then, wordlessly, we both stood up. He held my hand to steady me until my trembling legs strengthened. I'm weak because of this news, I told myself. Not because I was just making out with a vampire. But those dangerous and intoxicating kisses faded almost instantly when we returned to Lynne's sorority. It was busy with frightened people, and campus security moved in and out, allowing us to step right inside the open door. â€Å"What happened?† I asked a brunette standing nearby. â€Å"It's Lynne,† she said, biting her lips. â€Å"They just found her in an empty auditorium.† Something in the way she spoke made me uneasy. â€Å"Is she . . . alive?† The girl nodded. â€Å"I don't know . . . I think so, but they said there's something really wrong. She's unconscious and looks . . . well . . . old.† I met Adrian's eyes and vaguely noticed he had silver paint in his hair. I'd still been holding the brush when I'd wrapped my arms around him. â€Å"Damn,† he murmured. â€Å"Too late.† I wanted to scream in frustration. We'd been so close to warning her. She'd allegedly left just before we'd arrived. What if we'd come sooner? What if we'd visited her before the other two girls? I'd chosen the order randomly. Worse, what if we'd been able to find her instead of having art time with the drunken sorority girls? What if I hadn't been all over Adrian? Or maybe he'd been all over me. Whatever you wanted to call it, I hadn't exactly resisted. The more we learned, however, the more unlikely it seemed we would've been able to do anything if we'd stuck around Lynne's house and investigated. Nobody knew where she'd gone. Only one person had seen her leave, a girl with curly blond hair who frustrated the campus police with her vague answers. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she kept saying. â€Å"I just . . . I can't remember the girl she left with.† â€Å"Nothing?† asked one of the officers. â€Å"Height? Age? Hair color?† The girl frowned, looking as though she was using every ounce of mental effort. At last, she sagged in defeat and shook her head. â€Å"I'm sorry.† â€Å"Did she have black hair?† I suggested. The girl brightened a little. â€Å"Maybe. Er, wait. It might have been brown. No. Red, maybe?† Adrian and I stepped away, knowing we could do no more. â€Å"That girl seems awfully confused,† I said as we walked back to my car. â€Å"She certainly does,† he agreed. â€Å"Sound familiar?† â€Å"Very,† I muttered, recognizing the signs of magic. No one could deny it. Veronica had been here. And we'd been too late to stop her.